Retail Update
Susan Dickenson, Retail Editor, Home Accents Today, Twitter: @susandickenson
Main Street USA is well represented on this year's Retail Stars list
I've just finished emailing the 50 outstanding independent retailers that were named to this year's Retail Stars list. The store names and cities can be found HERE. The complete list, along with descriptions of the stores, is in this month's (May) issue, and it can be purchased online in our Research Store. In congratulating this year's retailers, AmericasMart President Jeff Portman credits their... Read More
Comments (0)Uncovering a cover-up for cord conundrums
Our monthly Illuminations feature, now in its second year, has given me opportunities to examine how home furnishings retailers and lighting showrooms sell lamps and lighting to consumers. One of my favorite talks on the subject was delivered by lighting showroom designer/merchandiser Denis Caldora, at last September's ALA Conference in Palm Beach. One of Denis's tips was to differentiate, as in &... Read More
Comments (0)2012 Spring High Point Market, in print and on Pinterest
This week, we're busy wrapping up the May issue, which includes our Best of Market coverage as well as our annual 50 Retail Stars feature. Regarding the Retail Stars, this year's stellar honorees already know who they are, but the entire list - perhaps our best yet - won't be revealed for a few more days. As for the Best of Market, you can look forward to a wrap-up of a High Point Market that buye... Read More
Comments (0)Frank talk on franchising
Real Deals on Home Décor and Decorating Den Interiors are two of our industry's biggest franchisors. Real Deals has been franchising since 2006, adhering to a unique retail model in which home furnishings are sold in "nontraditional" brick and mortar locations that are only open two days a week. Real Deals' limited hours and off-the-beaten-path locations not only help keep operating cost... Read More
Comments (2)Retailers, how are you using PINTEREST?
More than 8,000 pinners follow online home and gift retailer Layla Grayce and its "mod alter ego," Zinc Door on Pinterest. For about a year, co-owners Wendy Estes and Tiffany Harris have been using Pinterest to showcase products alongside design ideas in a catalog-style format, and engaging with pinner-followers by "liking," re-pinning and commenting on their pin activities. Th... Read More
Comments (0)Store openings, expansions, relocations
New York, N.Y. - Maison 24 is opening a shop-in-shop featuring the work of London-based artist and designer Rory Dobner this week. Maison 24, at 470 Park Avenue, will be the first store in the U.S. to offer Rory Dobner's hand-drawn inks, paintings, plates, tiles, candles, journals, cushions and neon designs. Owned by brother and sister Louis Marra and Allison Julius, the store carries home furni... Read More
Comments (0)Home Accents Today is now on PINTEREST
Follow Home Accents Today on Pinterest for even more industry coverage. Our boards include New Products, Home Stores/Retail Ideas, Lamps & Lighting and a few Editors Picks, with most of our pins linking back to articles on our site.We've also archived five years of industry personality profiles in The Portraits, and selections from Sandow Media's Material Connexion library in New Materials. Here's... Read More
Comments (1)Winning! Retail Stars, Icon Honors, ARTS Awards recognize retailing excellence
Each spring, Home Accents Today's editors and research team begin accepting nominations for our Retail Stars list, now in its eighth year. The annual 50 Retail Stars list, sponsored by AmericasMart Atlanta, recognizes enterprising independent home accents retailers who are creative in their merchandising, successful at what they do, are contributing to their communities and, most important, are di... Read More
Comments (0)Irish retail roots: Kilkenny and Avoca
Ireland's Kilkenny stores, often referred to as the country's "Largest Emporium for Irish Design Products," display and sell products like many of those found at this year's edition of Showcase Ireland. Kilkenny is rooted in the Kilkenny Design Workshops and the creative crafts hub of County Kilkenny. There are eight Kilkenny stores in Ireland, two of which operate as Christy's (Co. Kerr... Read More
Comments (1)Home furnishings store openings, relocations, expansions
Windsor, Conn. -- Upscale home furnishings and accessories retailer Parmida Home opened its first Northeast location here, in South Windsor's Evergreen Walk. The Texas-based lifestyle store chain, now at 11 stores, carries furniture, accessories, tableware, gifts, specialty foods and candles.Chicago -- Chiasso recently opened at 108 Skokie Blvd. in Wilmette, near Old Orchard mall. Chiasso features... Read More
Comments (1)BusinessUSA makes it easier to do biz with the government
If you've ever poked around on government websites in search of funding, procurement opportunities or business information, only to find yourself frustrated and lost in a maze of agencies, forms, links and acronyms, then I've got some good news for you.A couple of days ago, the Obama administration launched BusinessUSA, a new online platform "to help small businesses and exporters of all size... Read More
Comments (1)Party! Tell us about your most successful in-store event...
We average about one event a month and try to include functions that help support local not-for-profit agencies. Our best event this year was "The Hope-Filled Handbag Exchange." We learned that a local women's shelter gives a handbag of toiletries to each woman upon arrival, so we stocked up on an assortment of handbags and offered a $10 gift card with purchase, in exchange for a "s... Read More
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